zetterdawg

I'd go delete your dark side cookie right now, otherwise someone can use your id to spoof your identity and post as you.

matt 7:1

yes actually

not bad, the color seems really good. the bad is, yachtmaster not bold enough, and the ROLEX font is still wrong. I hold out hope for the custom dial.

I too would be in. As silly as FM is for selling ETA movement stainless steel watches for $10k, I would buy a rep

maybe an admin can just nuke this entire thread and forget about it.

Hey Kenberg, I did apologize and said publically said I should have stated just what I observed and not drawn the conclusions. I absolutely did not identify anyone and I feel that was appropriate. It's not my style to call someone out unless I'm completely sure. Finally - based on the additional observations I posted (gouged caseback, crystal popping out, bezel insert falling off) The Zigmeister agreed that it did look like someone had been inside the watch (probably beside the calibration kurt had done). There is no way to "prove" that someone else was in there, and I really don't care who it was, but based on what I saw it was clear to me that it had been opened. If it's not clear to everyone reading this - I APOLOGIZE AGAIN to Kurt and I'm just happy that the watch is running and looking fine now, no harm no foul. I learned my lesson, in the future, just the facts, mam. I hope Kurt decides to stick around, all this will blow over.

you only get back what you put in. Thanks for the advice Zig. I may take you up on the offer for part - I'm going to check the local watch repair place first. btw, the first picture of the movement was the wrong picture to post, I messed up.

Hey The Zigmeister - I'm basing the "upside down" comment on the retainer ring. There was no bend in the case clamp, but the clamp wouldn't fit properly with the ring the way it was, and it fit very naturally when the retainer ring was turned around. I could definitely be wrong on this and I defer to The Zigmeister. I came to the conclusion that someone had been in monkeying with the watch based on the following: 1. clear, deep gouges in the case back. It was taken off with a pair of pliers or something equivalently violent. My guess is any watchmaker worth his salt would never inflict this much damage on a watch. Again, maybe I'm wrong. 2. marks and scratches on the dial 3. missing parts (clamp) 4. poorly installed parts/movement/ring - the dial jiggled quite a bit when the crown was unscrewed to wind it. 5. the crystal popped right out and the bezel insert fell off within 15 seconds of each other through only regular handling during the uncasing process. 6. There was a little note on the inside of the caseback that said "I opened and monkied with this watch" ok that last one was made up The Zigmeister (please trust me I'm not trying to correct you) - in the first picture it may look as though the clamp is in there correctly, but I assure you if I turned the watch over at that point the entire movement would have fallen out. It wasn't clamping anything. Now - the second clamp - yes I sent a PM to the owner saying he needed to get one of those (I don't have one onhand). and he's cool with it. I agree it needs to be fixed properly. I don't know either the new owner or the seller of the watch, I apologize if I alluded to hijinks, but certainly this watch has a "story" and that's really all I should have said. On another note - before people start shooting the "you should get a professional to fix your watch" PM's and posts... the new owner accepted that I was not an expert, and there was some risk, but he was willing to roll the dice on that.

sdpartier posted that his Yachtmaster was in need of some love: http://replica-watch.info/forum/viewtopic....ter&start=0 Essentially the lume had come off the 6 O'clock marker, and the movement wasn't restrained properly so the dial went "all jiggly" when you pull the crown out to wind or set the time. I offered to help fix the watch and he accepted. The watch arrived today (nice packing sdpartier!) I took some before pictures as I worked on it: note that the metal retainer ring is installed UPSIDE DOWN, and thus the restraining device on the right hand side with the screw in it is completely useless. Here's the dial removed from the watch. The lume was able to slip under the side of the case lodging it between the dial and case and putting a small scratch on it visible with the loupe. Here's a second shot of the dial, with many scrap marks on the bottom. Evidence is starting to point to this watch being a rebuild by an amateur with even less skill than me So, after I get the dial and movement out everything looks pretty straight forward.... that is until the crystal pops right out! Yep, it was barely set in the case. WHOOPS! Ok, well, that's easy enough to fix..... until the bezel insert falls right out! What else could go wrong? Remember if you are doing this at home, it's all to easy to push down on the crown release button and mess up the keyless works - that's a pretty easy, yet time consuming thing to fix. Lots of small parts and you need good eyes/steady hands. Here are the parts So I got to work, I glued the 6 o'clock lume marker back in and while it was drying I decided I'd use the scotch tape method to refinish the band which is two tone, brushed and shiny. Here's the band after polishing/brushing: I cleaned the dial - but was unable to eliminate a stain at the 1 o'clock marker. I reseated the crystal, reattaching the bezel, properly fitting and retaining the movement, polished the case and finally waterproofed it with silicon grease. Here's a picture of the properly restrained movement - there was only one movement restraint device where there should have been 2 (it only came with one, the seller must have lost the other one), but the crown holds it fine until sd can get another one. Notice the metal movement ring is installed right side up NOW THE EYECANDY! The watch turned out great in my opinion. The rep has some of the flaws of the standard yachtmaster - not bold enough red YACHTMASTER text, the swiss made at 6 is wrong with no bolded seconds marker, the rolex font is a bit off, the dial color is wrong, but I really really thought this watch looked sweet once it was all polished up. WRIST SHOTS! So I said there would be a lesson. sdpartier bought this watch from a member I'm guessing and the member said it got wrecked in transit to him. That's just BS. This watch was rebuilt possibly from parts, or was an science experiment for someone with no patients. Everything that could have been wrong with this watch was wrong. I haven't had it long enough to know how the movement is at keeping time, but I have to assume there is probably going to be a problem with that. So, be careful when purchasing a used watch - they are usually being sold for a reason, and _some_ sellers are apparently not stand up guys. I've bought a couple used watches and been very happy (cwai and birdman! - good guys) but you can never be sure. Remember your reputation stands for something and I wouldn't blame sdpartier at all for calling out the member that sold him this crazy watch. Enjoy the watch sdpartier - it's a keeper and it's convinced me I need a yachtie! I'm glad I could help out.

me as well.

holy crap you are hairy. sorry, I've been drinking.

it does come in black. I think you are limiting yourself if you say you would never wear that watch. It's the nicest watch I have and I didn't really expect it to be.

not a wrist shot, but check out this bad-boy!

I think if tried just alittle bit harder, you could have made the music playing in the background even more annoying.

DOMO KUN!

My watch guy just mentioned that the 28.8 high beat 7750 will have slightly less power than the 21.8 version. What this results in is more slowdown on the main clock when the chrono is running since this movement is underpowered for all the stuff it has to do.

I spoke with Andrew (Trusty) and he says he can do the group buy with Josh - two of our best dealers working together. The plus side is they take PP. What do you guys think?

which one, oracle or SAP? Those are the only two left, right?

I build the software he administrates. Send me a watch or I'll make your life difficult

http://www.rapleaf.com/ does this! cheers, Z

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZfartonmyearQQhtZ-1 $0.01 + $5 shipping and you get a crown guard and the screws. 40 and 44mm versions. good luck!

I totally want one too. This isn't a hijack as the problem has been solved

Can't you take the current crystal to an optician and have AR applied? THat might be cheaper (I think 80 $ roughly)

Amen to that. I had a gen panerai that had a whopping 2 weeks of wrist time and 4 months of service time. suck it panerai I wear reps now!